Since 1950, UNICEF has supported the most important transformation for children and adolescents in Brazil. UNICEF Brazil current Country Programme concentrates efforts towards boys and girls most excluded, vulnerable, and exposed to extreme forms of violence, mainly in the Amazon and Semiarid regions and the peripheral areas of large cities, through the strategies Selo UNICEF and #AgendaCidadeUNICEF. In most recent years, UNICEF programming has also included various emergency responses: in the context of the Venezuelan Migration Crisis in the North of the country, during the Amazonas drought, to address and mitigate the impacts of the COVID pandemic on the most vulnerable children and adolescents, and during the floods that affected the South of Brazil.

Through the child protection programme interventions, psychosocial support activities reached thousands of children and specialized interventions and mobile teams allowed for the identification and referral of hundreds of cases of violence, abuse, and neglect to the Child protection statutory services.

UNICEF Brazil continues to focus its attention on the importance of the right to quality education and access to school to prevent and to protect children from extreme forms of violence. This assignment will contribute to the Education and Child Protection Sections and strengthen its capacity to respond adequately to the needs of UNICEF Country Office in the Amazon region.

The emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic has had grave consequences in terms of access to education and protection. To prevent community contagion, schools remained closed for two years. The measures to contain the epidemic caused great levels of distress as we have seen in the increased number of children in need of protection services. The pandemic has evolved against a backdrop of migration influx from Venezuela, which had started in 2015. The state of Amazonas has experienced steady flow of migrants and refugees from Venezuela. Venezuelans living in the Manaus municipality have reported difficulties in accessing social services and many have turned to begging. Furthermore, more than a half of Venezuelan women reported risks of psychological or sexual violence.

The UN Volunteer will contribute with the development of initiatives conducted by UNICEF within Education and Child Protection integrated framework at the Amazon Territory, aligned with Selo UNICEF strategy and #AgendaCidadeUNICEF in Amazonas.

In that purpose, the UN Volunteer will provide technical and operational support to the planning, articulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of activities related to specific strategies or programmes, which include among others: integrated framework Education that Protects against violence, Child Protection strategies, and technical support to Selo UNICEF at EZ Manaus. Complementarily, the UN Volunteer will provide technical support for the implementation of UNICEF’s humanitarian response for migrant/refugee children and adolescents in the states of Amazonas, Rondônia e Acre, and contribute to the support the government authorities and partners and to position children’s and adolescents’ rights in the humanitarian response.

Under the direct supervision of the Manaus Chief of Field Office and technical coordination with Child Protection and Education national areas, the UN Volunteer will support the development and implementation of UNICEF Brazil Country Programme specially on the education that protects and child protection programme in the Amazon Territory (with focus in Amazonas, Rondônia and Acre States), contributing the following outcomes:

• Provide technical support for the design, implementation, and monitoring of the Education that Protects and Child Protection programs, focusing on advocacy and awareness-raising for violence prevention. Ensure active participation of children in these processes and promote contextualized education and intersectoral policies that enhance their retention in the education system.

• Support the strengthening of local child protection systems (SGD), enhancing their capacity to prevent and respond to violence against children. Ensure that these systems are culturally appropriate and inclusive of indigenous, afro-descendent, and migrant children and adolescents, while promoting knowledge among key stakeholders on the impact of violence.

• Assist in preparing and responding to emergencies by strengthening local systems to ensure the continuity of protection and education for children. Provide technical support to ensure that local systems are equipped to handle crises effectively, maintaining the focus on child protection and education continuity, ensuring that their specific needs are addressed during crises.

• Support the transition from emergency child protection responses to sustainable public policies, bearing in mind the humanitarian-development nexus is crucial to strengthen local services through joint action plans with state and municipal governments.

• Promote awareness about the rights and needs of migrant, indigenous, afro-descendent, and riverside populations, as well as those in urban centers, working to reduce discrimination and xenophobia while supporting access to education for children on the move and those in these diverse communities.

Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness – Self-aware of own strengths, limitations, working style and deeply held convictions and biases; Display ethical awareness through behaviors that are consistent and compliant with the standards of conduct for international civil servants; Seek feedback from multiple sources on own behaviors, including unconscious biases and potential blind spots; Recognize personal stress and seek help to maintain personal well-being; Display appropriate ethical behaviors, promoting zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment, including sexual harassment, abuse of authority, and any type of discrimination; Challenge unprofessional, unethical and unsafe behaviors; Voice opinion in a truthful and respectful manner.
Works Collaboratively with others – Establish and maintain mutually supportive working relationships, demonstrating sensitivity to people of diverse backgrounds, respecting differences and ensuring that all can contribute and succeed; Encourage others to contribute ideas and listen without interruption; Support colleagues in achieving their goals; Earn the trust and confidence of colleagues through respectful, honest behaviors, displaying openness and tolerance.
Builds and Maintains Partnerships – Build a network of external stakeholders and alliances with counterparts in order to promote and advance the work of the organization; Develop a network of formal and informal contacts through participation in professional networks; Adopt a consultative approach and solicit the support of key stakeholders at critical stages of one’s work.
Innovates and Embraces Change – Adapt and respond positively to change; Review work practices, analyzing evidence-based trends to apply new methods and techniques; Respond flexibly to changing circumstances, priorities and deadlines; Display creativity, experiment with new approaches and demonstrate openness to changing existing practices.
Thinks and Acts Strategically – Understand the big picture and show ability to identify potential opportunities for action and challenges; Analyze and evaluate data from a wide range of sources, assessing reliability and presenting conclusions to enable informed decision-making; Adapt workplans in response to emerging situations and new requirements;
Drive to achieve impactful results – Commit to action and assumes responsibility and ownership for own performance and the associated outcomes; Pay attention to detail, producing work of a high standard; Monitor activities on a regular basis, reviewing work plan to ensure progress and delivery; Ensure the completion of tasks, while addressing obstacles and bottlenecks.
Manages ambiguity and complexity – Demonstrate resilience and composure despite challenges; Maintain performance levels in pressure, adverse and uncertain environments.
Demonstrates flexibility; Identify key issues and priorities, maintaining personal effectiveness in complex situations.

child protection, emergencies, migration and/or gender issues.
• Experience with indigenous population, monitoring of human rights and advocacy is an asset.
• Background and familiarity with international human rights, children`s rights and emergency response.
• Advanced knowledge of State and municipal public management and of the structure and functioning of local child protection systems (Sistema de Garantia de Direitos – SGD).
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, and proven ability to facilitate interagency processes to achieve a common goal.
• Have affinity with or interest in child rights, volunteerism as a mechanism for durable development, and the UN System;

Manaus is the largest city in population in the state of Amazonas and in the Northern Region of Brazil. The municipality has about 2,219,580 inhabitants. The city still has a high population density for the standard of northern Brazilian municipalities. Manaus population is characterized by miscegenation, especially of Portuguese and indigenous people. In addition, the municipality received many immigrants throughout the 20th century, due to the rubber economic cycle and the industrialization process.

In demographic terms, the city of Manaus has presented a high population growth in the last decades, recognized, even, as a process of population explosion. The motivation for this phenomenon is linked to the city’s role as an attractive center for migrants from the northern states of the country, since it is the main economic and political center of this region. In addition, the birth rate of the municipality is positive and life expectancy has increased over the years. Manaus’ human development index is considered high. However, the city has elevated poverty rates. The disorderly growth, in terms of population and urban structure, has generated consequences such as violence and environmental degradation. In addition, the city of Manaus has a significant level of social inequality among its population. Manaus’ economy is based on the manufacturing industry and public administration. The secondary and tertiary sectors are the main ones of the Manaus economy. The growth of secondary activities was the result of the creation of the Manaus Free Trade Zone, an area aimed at attracting and installing companies through the offer of tax incentives, which was created in the municipality in 1967.

The city of Manaus is a large urban center and has an extensive infrastructure, but very uneven between the different regions of the municipality. The Manaus territory is served by a network of highways, but the main connection between Manaus and the rest of the Brazilian territory is through the air modal. River transport is very important to the transfer between Manaus and the cities in the interior of Amazonas.

The main transport structures in Manaus are the Port and the Airport of Manaus. Regarding access to basic services, such as energy and sanitation, the city of Manaus has many structural problems, especially in water supply and sewage collection. In addition, despite the city having the main health and education facilities in the Amazon, there is difficulty in accessing and offering quality for the population. The health crisis experienced by the municipality due to the coronavirus pandemic is an example of the precariousness of the local health system. The disorderly growth of the city had a direct impact on its structure. The lack of urban planning culminated in the creation of many housing areas of irregular occupation, which have precarious housing conditions. The city is divided into 7 geographic zones, which have a total of 63 official districts.

All United Nations personnel must scrupulously comply with UNDSS procedures and recommendations during their assignment. For missions in rural areas or indigenous reservations, special procedures may apply; UN personnel should consult with the local DSS office in advance.

As this is a national UN Youth Volunteer assignment, the UN Volunteer will be responsible for arranging their own housing and other living essentials.

Information on full entitlements at the duty station is available at https://app.unv.org/calculator .
The complete UN Volunteer Conditions of Service is available at https://explore.unv.org/cos.